Railway signal torpedo



F. DUTCHER RAILWAY SIGNAL TORPEDO.

APPucATmN FILED APR.25, 192|.

Patented Jlme 27, 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

F. DUTCHER.

RAILWAY SIGNAL TORPEDO.

APPLICATION FILED APII.25, 1921.

1,421,188. Patented June 27,1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

' Giften/w11 earner orifice.

.FRANK DUTCI-IER, OF VERSAILLES, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO CENTRALRAILWAY SIGNAL COMPANY, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPO- RATION 0FNEW JERSEY.

RAILWAY SIGNAL TORPEDG.

Application filed April 25, 1921.

To @ZZ whom t may concern Be it known that I, FRANK DUTGHER, a citizenof the United States, residing at Versailles, in the county of Alleghenyand State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and usefulImprovementsin Railway Signal Torpedoes, of which the following is aspecification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to improvements in railway signal torpedoes, andtheir manufacture, but relates more particularly to railway signaltorpedoes in which the eX- plosive powder is carried in a papercontainer or case, the ends of which are closed by being crimped, 'andwhich is provided with a railway rail engaging member or strap forfastening the torpedo to the railway track.

The object of this invention is to provide a railway signal torpedo soconstructed that when it is exploded there will be no flying particlesto cause damageor injury.

Another object of this invention is to make the torpedo case of anangular shape so that there will be presented a flat side to which therail-engaging member can be attached and upon which it willrest whenfastened upon a railway rail.

A further object of this invention is to provide a railway signaltorpedo which is so constructed that it is cheap and simple ofmanufacture and at the same time highly eiiicient in use.

Other objects and novel features of this invention relating to bothmanufacture and construction will appear inthe following description anddrawings.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a perspective view of a railway signal torpedo embodying myinvention, the case being shown octagonal in shape.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the several parts of the torpedo case,the wad, and the rail engaging member kin separated and unassembledrelation.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the torpedo shown in Fig. l.

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 4 4 of Fig. 8.

Fig. 5 is a perspective View of a torpedo embodying my invention, thetorpedo case being shown to be round in shape.

Speccaton of Letters Patent.

Vplosive charge.

, well known that are involved from both fire and explosion, and thatduetol Patented J une 27, 1922.

Serial No. 464,110.

Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view on the line 6-6 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a longitudinal vertical section of the apparatus used to holdthe torpedo wrappers while being filled with their ex- F ig. 8 is a sideelevation -of the explosive measuring and filling buckets.

Fig. 9 is a top plan view of the explosive measuring and fillingbuckets.

In the accompanying drawings, like parts are designated by similarreference numerals throughout the description.

To those 'skilled in'the art of the manu-` facture of railway signaltorpedoesit is great hazard and danger the great care which mustnecessarily be taken, the manufacturing cost is high.

My invention involves both the manufac? ture of, and the completedtorpedo,with novel improvements in both. The preferable form of myimproved torpedo is shown, Figs. l to 4 inclusive, with an octagonalshaped wrapper and case; With a case of this shape the torpedo has aplurality of flat sides and therefore when it is placed vupon arailway'rail-it will not have a Vtendency to roll when struck by` themoving wheel of a locomotive. This case'has in addition the advantage ofproviding a flat side upon which the rail engaging member is secured. Y'

As shown in Figs. 5 and 6, this torpedo can be made with a round case ifdesired,

Y and I do not` limit my invention to the particularshape of case used.

In constructing la torpedo of the type shown in Figs. l to 4, inclusive,I provide an octagonal explosive wrapper 1, provided with extendingportions la and l". The end Y la of the wrapper l is first spun orcrimped in, as shown at 2, and the wrapper is then placed with Vits openend 3, Fig. 7, upward in octagonal shaped openings 4 in a baseboard 5.vsuitably supported above the base 5 and adjacent the open ends 3 of theexplosive wrappers 1 is a member 6 provided with tunnels 7 'sopositioned that their spouts 8 project through the member and into theopen ends of the wrappers, as shown.

To facilitate the charging or Yloading of the explosive wrappers withthe explosive powder' A, I have provided a rod 9, having at its oppositeends the handles 10. Spaced at distances, equal to the distances betweenthe funnels 7, along therod 9, are a plurality of buckets 11, providedwith scoop-like ends 12. Each bucket is constructed to hold just thecorrect amount of explosive powder to fill one of the torpedo wrappers.

` In operation the handles 10 are grasped and the buckets 11 scoopedfull ofpowder from a bin or the like (not shown) and the powdered`explosive is dumped from the buckets into the several funnels 7, andthus several explosive wrappers are charged simultaneously. Due to thefact that the spouts 8 of the `fnnnels project into the l wrappers, nopowder is left upon the ex tending ends 1b of the wrappers.

After4 the wrappers have been charged, as described above, a paper orcotton wad 13 is placed in the end of each upon the powder therein toprevent the possibility of spilling any of the explosive while thewrappers are being handled and their ends 1b are being spun or crimpedin, as shown `at 14. Because of the method of loading and the use of thewad 13, there is noloose powder upon or within the extending ends 1b yofthe wrappers, which if it were present `might possibly be exploded byengagement wih the tool used to spin or crimp these en s. With thewrapper 1 loadedand crimped, the rail engaging member or strap 15 is nowplaced upon one of its flat sides and the octagonal case 16 is slid uponand over bothof them. The case 16 is made of a size to lit` the wrappersnugly' and will therefore bind the rail-engaging member firmly in placebetween the wrapper and the covering case.

- If desired,.the torpedo can be safely guarded against dampnessbydipping it into a waterproof bath.

It will be readily understood that in making the round form of torpedoshown inFigs. 5 and 6, the method and procedure are similar to that usedin making the octagonal form. In this form, I have the inner wrapper 20with its ends crimped in as at 21, and the rail-engaging or attachingmember 22 `carried upon the wrapper'between it and the covering case 23.

`Not limiting myself to the particular shape of torpedo case, neither doI limit myself to the use of the particular railengaging member shown inthe drawings, as a `spring clip or other similar and wellknown type ofrail attaching means can be readily adapted to use with my torpedo.

` From the foregoing description it will be seen that I have provided arailway signal torpedo so constructed as to prevent the flying ofparticles when exploded. y This advantageous result is accomplished bycrimping the ends of the explosive wrapper so that when the torpedo isstruck by a moving wheel and exploded, the ends of the wrapper blow openand not away, this action being assisted by the fact that the casebegins to mash, which mashing tends to start the opening of the crimpedends, under the wheel before the explosion occurs.

In addition to the above improvement, I have provided a safe and novelmeans of loading a plurality of torpedo wrappers simultaneously and soconstructing the several parts comprising the torpedo that a railattaching means can be quickly and cheaply attached thereto.

I-Iaving thus described my invention,what I claim and desire to secureby Letters Patent is 1. A railway signal torpedo comprising awrapper,having extending end-portions, the extending end portions crimpedinward, an explosive within the wrapper, a case embracing the wrapper,and a rail-engaging gaging member carried, upon the wrapper and beneaththe case.

3. A railway signal torpedo comprising an explosive carried within awrapper having inwardly crimped ends, a wad within oneend of thewrapper, a case embracing the wrapper, and a rail-engaging membercarried upon the wrapper and beneath the case.

4. A railway signal torpedo comprising a wrapper of octagonal shape incross-section, an explosive held within the wrapper by crimping its endsinward, a case embracing the wrapper, and a rail-engaging member carriedupon the wrapper and beneath the case. Y

5. A railway signal torpedo comprising a wrapper having a plurality offlat sides, the ends of the wrapper crimped inwardly to retain anexplosive therein, a rail-engaging member carried upon vone of the flatsides of the wrapper, a case similar in crosssectional shape to thewrapper, and the wrapper and rail engaging member carried within thecase, for the purposedescribed.

6. A railway signal torpedo, comprising a wrapper having a plurality offlat sides, the wrapper provided with extending end portions crimpedinward, an explosive within the wrapper, an open ended case embracingthe wrapper, and a rail-engagingimember carried`between` the wrapperandthe case.

7. A railway signal torpedo comprising a wrapper having a plurality offlat sides,

the wrapperprQVde/d with' extended end portions crimped inward, anexplosive within the wrapper, an open ended case embracing the wrapper,and a rail-engaging member Carried by the torpedo.

8. A railway signal torpedo comprising a wrapper having a plurality offlat sides, the ends of the wrapper crimped inwardly to reta-in anexplosive therein, a case similar in cross-sectional shape to thewrapper, the wrapper carried within the case and a rail-engaging membercarried by the torpedo.

9. A railway signal torpedo comprising a wrapper of octagonal shape incross-section, an explosive held within the wrapper by crimping its endsinwardly, a oase embracing the wrapper, and a rail-engaging membercarried by the torpedo.

10. A railway signal torpedo comprising an explosive within a wrapperhaving an explosive within a wrapper having crimped ends, an open endedcase around the explosive, and a rail-engaging member carried by thetorpedo for securing the same to the head of a railway rail.

12. A railway signal torpedo comprising an explosive within a wrapperhaving crimped ends, a case around the explosive,

and a rail-engaging member carried by the torpedo, for the purposedescribed.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aix my signature.

FRANK DU TCHER.

